Monday, August 3, 2009

The Rilovians, Chapter 2: The lunacy of war

The warriors of Rilovi were amongst the most honor-driven I've encountered in the vast Bionicle universes. Though they were fiersome in battle, a strict code of ethics governed their every action. To begin with, all Rilovians believed that the use of any form of energy device (such as a blaster or even a charged staff) against a living being would be utterly uncivilized and barbaric. Thus, warriors fought hand-to-hand on the battlefield with only conventional weapons such as metal and ceramic swords and spears. Hundreds of years of refinement of many of these types of primitive weapons rendered them fairly equal in combat effectiveness, leaving the outcome of any individual clash up to a combination of warrior skill and stamina. With combat training from one region to another being as finely evolved as their weapon design, luck was frequently the deciding factor in a long, gruelling battle between two proud warriors.

To the Rilovian, to win a fight was not to slay your opponent. To win was to establish irrefutable combattive dominance. Deaths in battle were rare and generally the result of carelessness brought on by fatigue. The typical battle ended when one warrior found a weapon to his throat, forcing him to surrender. His weapon would be collected and he would be personally escorted by the victor to a forward base, where he would be processed as a prisoner. As a prisoner, he would be ensured satisfactory shelter and sustinence, the right to pray how and when he chose, and regular remote communciation with family members.

The irony of it all is quite obvious, in hindsight. There were too many inhabitants for the land, so they would go to war with their neighbors. Then, instead of slaughtering eachother and thus actually helping with the problem, they would merely trade places in large numbers while requiring the construction of huge prison complexes that wasted still more land. Making matters still worse, a warrior captured in battle would have to be replaced. It was an utterly ridiculous, viscious cycle.

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